MY EYE IS ON FIGHTING THE STIGMA AROUND HIV

... AND WHY JVN SAYS ‘NO’ TO CELEB PALS

E’S changing lives with the Fab Five on Queer Eye – but Jonathan Van Ness has been fighting his own battles since coming out as HIV positive. The style expert revealed he was living with the condition in his autobiography, and d has now spoken about bout stigmas that still exist around HIV in 2019. 9.

‘I’m quickly realising sing there is still so much ch misunderstanding and sensationalising ng of living with HIV,’ ’ he said.

‘The stigma and the difficulty around the process s of getting treatment nt is creating that. My y work has only really just begun.’ un.

Since finding g fame on

Netflix’s hit makeover show, JVN has seen his career r blow up and can now call upon stars such ch as Taylor Swift t as friends.

But he says learning to say no has been key to him avoiding a burnout.

‘The other day, Taylor and I were making soup and she asked me to go to a Madonna concert with her,’ he said.

‘I knew it would be an amazing experience. But also... my nervous system. I was a full-time hairdresser and small-business owner, like, 19 months ago. I hate saying no. I love my friends. I get FOMO. But I have to prioritise self-care because, if I don’t, then my candle will burn out.’

The 32-year-old also told Cosmopolitan magazine that, despite his role as a selfhelp guru, even he feels lost sometimes. ‘I don’t know how to fix the world! I really y want to improve p the social safety w net for people living with HIV and an figure out ou how to m make sure Do Donald Tr Trump do doesn’t win [an [another elec election] and find out how to m make legis legislators sexy again and m make critic critical think thinking cool.’ He does have one s solution thoug though.

‘I sm smoke weed. I mean with B Brexit around the corner, henny, you all need someth something,’ he quipped quipped. ‘With those politicians politician doing all that lying about how much money the NHS was going to get if you left the EU, I bet if you had some gorgeous legalised marijuana you’d have enough taxes for, like, state-paid lipo, nose jobs or fillings. I bet we could get dental and vision. Put that on a bus.’

Read his interview in January’s issue of Cosmopolitan, on sale on Thursday.

Jonathan reckons his herbal remedy could ‘fix the world’